1. Priority Claim
This application claims the benefit of EPO Application No. 06127340.5, filed Dec. 29, 2006 and Italian Application No. M12006A002534, filed Dec. 29, 2006, both of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety.
2. Technical Field
This disclosure relates to a system for managing a telecommunications service provider's inventory of SIM cards, IMSI numbers and MSISDN.
3. Background Information
FIG. 1 shows a typical mobile telephone 102. Every mobile telephone includes a smart card 104 that contains an embedded integrated circuit chip (ICC). The ICC is configured to execute a software application program known as a subscriber identity module (SIM). The SIM provides secure data storage for key data identifying a mobile telephone service subscriber and associated subscription information. Together an ICC executing a SIM application may be simply referred to as a SIM card.
There are several important numbers associated with a SIM card. An ICC code 110 is a numeric (or alphanumeric) code printed directly on an ICC card. The ICC code serves as a unique identifier of a physical card. An international mobile subscriber identity number 106 (IMSI number) is a unique number stored within a SIM application. The IMSI number is a unique number associated with all GSM and UMTS network mobile phone users. The IMSI number identifies the mobile phone to the mobile telephone network in which the mobile phone operates. A Mobile Subscriber ISDN (MSISDN) 108 is also associated with a SIM card. The MSISDN corresponds to the actual telephone number of the mobile telephone in which the SIM card is installed.
A mobile telecommunication service subscriber's MSISDN 108 must be associated with the IMSI number 106 stored in the subscriber's SIM card by the network in order for the network to properly direct calls to the subscriber's mobile telephone. A mobile telephone service provider (telecom) might have hundreds of thousands or even millions of subscribers. New subscribers may be added every day and existing subscribers may drop or alter their subscription packages. Given the scale of most telecoms' customer bases, monitoring a telecom's inventory of available SIM cards, IMSI numbers, and MSISDN, as well as managing the associations between IMSI numbers and MSISDN for new and existing subscribers can be a complex and burdensome task.